DETAILS ABOUT THE NATURAL VEGETATION OF JAMMU & KASHMIR ( paragraph )
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NATURAL VEGETATION OF JAMMU & KASHMIR:
The state of Jammu and Kashmir serves as a unique bounty of nature and reveals considerable Himalayan influence in shaping its extant vegetation. The overall vegetation not only manifests a remarkable degree of differentiation but also a vivid contrast within the delineated phytochoria. In Kashmir, vast and varied extant vegetation reveals a typical blend of temperate, subalpine, and alpine elements; however, no such stratification is discernible in Ladakh in view of its spatial features. The phytosociological structure of oastic, desert, and alpine types has been analyzed along horizontal and vertical gradients, covering different mountain systems of this zone.
In Jammu, the predominantly subtropical vegetation reflects some inherent peculiarities within the level land, kandi, and foothill types. However, an admixture of some temperate elements renders a transitional touch to the prevailing vegetation along Rajouri–Poonch and Doda–Kishtwar ranges. The Pleistocene events and fossil records are suggestive of major geoclimatic perturbations experienced by the State in recent geological past. As a result, only few Pleistocene taxa (conifers, birches, barberries, alders, figs, cherries, horse chestnuts, etc.) thrive in Kashmir today, while majority of them have emigrated toward more congenial habitats (Shivaliks) in the outer Himalaya. The general floristic richness and representativeness in different biomes of the State indicate a wide range of adaptive potential vis-à-vis varied environmental conditions.
The alien plant invasions and biotic stress have, however, considerably increased in the recent past, and an untouched State is barely discernible. Unless conservational priorities are initiated in right earnest, this native green-gold diversity, which is the resource base for millions of people in the country, is going to get depleted in impending future.